


minimum wage boyfriend

by tostitos



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Everyone is cute, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Lowercase, M/M, Sweet, They're cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2018-12-12 06:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11731545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tostitos/pseuds/tostitos
Summary: yuta loves his mom, he does, but he's tired of her trying to set him up with every gay or bi boy in the city. so it's understandable that he would eventually tell her 'i have a boyfriend' to get her to stop. except he's 100% single and now his mom wants to meet his nonexistent boyfriend.insert dongyoung kim.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i don't explicitly say this, but this takes place at an international school in america

"stephanie said you two got along well when you met."

yuta sighs and pushes the car full of groceries faster ahead of his mother. "i guess you could say that."

if getting along well is synonymous with politely ignoring each other's existences.

"and what about that date you went on? you said it went alright," his mother continues on, unhurried even as yuta tries to leave her and this conversation behind.

she's been trying to set him up with her friend stephanie's son ever since she found out he was gay like yuta. yuta appreciates the sentiment, he does, but he's not interested in every boy on this planet, especially not boys who show you their entire collection of handmade wolf tails within ten minutes of going to get coffee.

the date was alright in the sense that it was best thing yuta could say without being too mean or outright lying. it's not his fault his mom's friend didn't say anything to his mom about her son thinking he's descendant from wolves.

he hums noncommittally, reaching out for a box of marshmallow cereal to throw into the cart. he effectively tunes her out until they're standing in the meat section and she once again questions why he won't meet the kid again.

and maybe shouting 'i have a boyfriend' while surrounded by chicken breast isn't the most adult way to handle the situation but it gets his mother to shut up.

she frowns. "you have a boyfriend?" she asks in a way that it sounds more like a statement. "since when? why haven't you told me? or brought him over to visit?"

she sounds like she thinks he's lying.

seeing a way out, yuta tries not to mumble as he says, "he's shy. we haven't been together for very long."

he always mumbles when he lies.

"but i'll try to convince him to come over."

his mom gives him a strange look before softening her face into a smile. "you should. i'd love to meet him."

yuta returns the smile and hopes his mother can't tell he's screaming on the inside.

he has to find a boyfriend.

 

which is why he ends up outside classroom 327 ten minutes after school, the room empty save for two boys sitting across from each other at a group of tables in front of the white board. one of them is leaning back in a chair, looking over something on his phone and smacking a wad of gum the same shade of pink as his hair. but it's the other boy, sitting on top of a light brown desk with one foot hanging off the front and the other resting on the seat of the chair, who yuta is here for. he has a clipboard in his hands and he pushes purple-ish grey strands of hair out of his eyes as he flips through the pages.

he's dongyoung kim — or doyoung as he now introduces himself — passionate member of the speech and debate club and occasional contributor to the school newspaper. they shared a sociology class and a half-year gym class together in their sophomore year.

"tae, you're doing extemp, right?" he asks. he glances up from the clipboard and turns over his shoulder when taeyong, another member of speech and debate and resident hair dye addict, doesn't answer him. "taeyong. extemp. yes. or no. put down your phone, you fucking millennial."

taeyong hums a sound that means nothing to yuta but must be a language doyoung speaks because he mumbles out a, "thank you," and plucks the pencil from behind his ear to mark something on one of the sheets attached to his clipboard.

yuta clears his throat, squares his shoulders, and marches straight into the room.

"doyoung," he starts, stopping in front of the other boy. his hands clench into his fists at his sides as doyoung blinks wide eyes at him. even taeyong glances up from his phone.

"yeah?"

yuta sucks in a breath and asks, in an even tone, "be my boyfriend? i'll pay you."

a crease immediately wrinkles the bit of skin between doyoung's furrowed brows.

taeyong whispers an amazed, 'wow.'

doyoung doesn't pay him any attention, his eyes settled on yuta. ten, twenty seconds of silence pass and then, "be your—"

"what's up, plebs. john seo is finishing a chem lab so he'll be late." chittaphon strolls into the classroom. "oh, hey, yuta." he walks up to the clump of tables and takes down the chair across from taeyong. swinging his bag off his shoulder, he tosses it on the floor and settles in the chair.

yuta wets his lips and sighs. "'sup," he answers without turning away from doyoung who returns his stare evenly, if not without a little bit (a lot) of confusion and wariness. "so, what do you say?"

doyoung tilts his head to the side and parts and closes his lips like a dehydrating fish, the beginnings of words getting caught in his throat. yuta watches him press his lips together and collect his thoughts before he speaks.

"no?"

and, really, yuta wasn't expecting a reaction any different.

  

"you can't just go up to him and ask him out like that without any context. of course he'd say no, you're not even friends."

yuta sighs. "i know, i know. it was stupid. i'm stupid."

he's talking to himself with his forehead pressed against one of the lockers lining the wall outside classroom 327. the sounds of the members of the speech and debate club chatting trickle out into the hallway, their meeting well underway since yuta shuffled out of the room and the last four members of the club straggled in.

"hey."

at the call, yuta quickly straightens up and twists his head to see doyoung lingering in front of the door.

doyoung has his hands stuffed into the pockets of straight blue jeans. he looks smart as always, with a lightly striped pale blue button-down tucked into the front of his jeans.

"oh, hey. uh, sorry about blindsiding you like that," yuta apologizes.

yuta can count on one hand the number of times they have had an actual conversation with each other. but if yuta is going to look for a fake boyfriend to trick his mother, he'd rather find someone else who is gay. he may not know that doyoung is gay for certain, but he gives off this Vibe and yuta knows better than to ignore the Vibe.

doyoung purses his lips together. "i really just want to know why you propositioned me out of nowhere."

"saying i propositioned you is a little much."

"you offered to pay me." doyoung cocks his head and takes his hands out of his pockets to cross over his chest.

yuta grimaces and averts his eyes, unconsciously rubbing the back of his neck. "okay, when you put it that way, it does sound kind of sketchy. but i only need you to pretend to be my boyfriend so my mom will stop trying to hook me up with her friend's son."

doyoung's eyebrows furrow. "why don't you just tell her that you're not interested in him?"

scoffing, yuta crosses his own arms over his chest. "do you honestly think i would have asked you to do this for me if it was as simple as that? we've passed the point of rationality."

doyoung is quiet, his eyes focused on an invisible spot above yuta's head. eventually, he sighs, annoyed. "this is stupid," he says and then, "how much will you pay me?"

 

"okay, so, we've been dating for a little more than a month since you said the last date she set you up on was two months ago. you didn't say anything to your mom because i was afraid to come out and you didn't want to pressure me by telling anyone else. obviously we met in class but we didn't get close until we discovered we have mutual friends and started to get to know one another. you asked me out and it wasn't anything special-"

"unrealistic," yuta cuts doyoung off with a wave of his hand. "my confession would have been super special."

doyoung snorts and doesn't take his eyes off the fresh notebook in his hands. "that's nice. but we're trying to keep our story simple so we don't get mixed up trying to remember too many details. so, as i said, you asked me out and it wasn't anything special." he taps the eraser of his pencil against the words scrawled on the page.

he's meticulous and somewhat of a busybody - things yuta already knew from overhearing him complain during group projects in class - but the amount of effort he's putting in to help yuta is heartwarming. like he really cares about convincing yuta's mother enough that she backs off.

"doyoung," he calls after a lapse in getting their dating history in order. doyoung breaks out of his organization haze, glancing up at him and humming to show he's listening. "i'm just curious, but, why did you agree? we're not even friends and i'm sure this is awkward for you."

"it'd be a lot more awkward if we _were_ friends, yuta." doyoung quirks a smile that quickly falls. "but i'm trying to save up money for something. and i figure if you're so desperate to do something like this then it'd be kinda shitty to refuse when i have nothing better to do."

yuta nods, but before he can respond, doyoung speaks again.

"i was curious about something as well, actually." doyoung bites his lip, rolling it with his teeth. "why did you ask me?"

yuta blinks once, twice. an awkward laugh bubbles out his throat. doyoung doesn't look like he's expecting yuta to say anything revolutionary, but the japanese boy still feels nerves in his stomach. he does think doyoung is kind of cute but it feels weird to say it to his face.

"well...my mom knows all of my friends. and out of all of the guys i either know or have a feeling are into boys you're, i don't know," yuta shrugs and turns to look at the part timer reshelving returned books, "the most 'take home to mom' type."

doyoung raises an eyebrow. "what if your feeling was wrong? or i said no. what was your plan b?"

eyes still on the woman shoving books into spaces they don't fit, yuta chokes out a sarcastic laugh. "cry. resign myself to life with a guy who does let's plays on youtube in a full-on wolf costume."

"no _fucking_ way." doyoung says it like he can't believe what yuta just said, a wide shit-eating grin plastered on his face. he tries to reel in his amusement, lips twitching awkwardly as he tries to stop smiling.

yuta doesn't really think it's funny.

"i mean," doyoung finally clamps his lips together and waves his hand. a cute laugh still bubbles out of his throat. "that's nice. i'm sure he's nice."

 

this is dumb.

it's not going to work.

his mom is going to realize it's all a lie.

"mom?" yuta calls as he toes off his shoes in the entrance way.

doyoung follows his actions, hand tightening in yuta's grip when he loses his balance trying to untie his high tops on one foot.

they both have their story completely memorized and even went through a role play with taeyong acting as yuta's mother (to which taeyong repeatedly commented on how stupid this whole thing is as if they didn't know) in the public library two days ago. all they can do now is sell the story and hope his mother buys it.

once they both are free of their shoes and there's no danger of doyoung taking them both to the ground, yuta tugs doyoung into the living room where his mother is sitting on the couch watching civil court reality shows.

she immediately looks at them, a 'hello' on her lips that cuts off when her eyes fall on doyoung and then their conjoined hands. she lights up like a child on christmas morning, jumping out of her seat.

"is this him?"

she's way too excited; it almost washes all of the leftover nerves from yuta.

"uh, yeah. this is dongyoung."

doyoung squeezes his hand. "b-but everyone calls me doyoung. nice to meet you, mrs. nakamoto." he smiles and dips his head politely at the older asian woman.

"oh, he's adorable, yucchan-"

yuta cuts her off with a long-suffering groan. "mom, please don't call me that. it's embarrassing."

"i'll call you whatever i want, nakamoto yuta."

laughing sweetly, doyoung leans into his shoulder. "i think it's cute, _yucchan_."

yuta pretends to act annoyed, pulling on a clump doyoung's hair like a kindergartener. "okay, you met him. now it's time for him to go home."

his mom watches them with soft eyes. she steps away from the couch and motions for them to sit down. "you don't have to stand. this isn't an interrogation." she pats doyoung on the shoulder. "it's nice to meet you, too. please sit and i'll bring out some tea."

she flutters off into the kitchen and as soon as she's out of sight, the boys drop hands.

"dude, my heart is like..." doyoung jiggles his fist furiously. "but she's super sweet."

yuta falls onto the couch and leans his head back against the cushion to stare up at the ceiling.  "same," he drawls back. "but she's not as suspicious as i thought she'd be. i don't think she was expecting me to actually bring a boy home."

doyoung glances towards where yuta's mom went and joins the other boy on the couch. "most moms wouldn't expect their kid to pay someone to act as their boyfriend."

nodding, yuta taps his fingers on his knee. "do you think sitting like this is okay? should i put my arm around your shoulder or something?"

"maybe when she comes back, i'll lean into you and then you can put it around my shoulder?"

they make small talk about forensics and the soccer team's recent semi-final win before yuta's mother returns, with a tray holding three small glasses of cold oolong tea.

"you're on the speech and debate team, doyoung?" yuta's mom asks, holding out a cup which doyoung takes.

doyoung nods, looking down into the light brown tea. "yeah. we have a regional tournament coming up and i'm a little nervous."

"you'll do great. being contrary is what you're best at," yuta half comforts half teases, remembering a debate they had in their sociology class that ended up in frustrated tears on doyoung's opponent's end.

doyoung snorts, slapping yuta's thigh. "be quiet, _yucchan_."

"see! now he's not going to stop call me that," yuta complains.

grinning, doyoung leans into his side like he said he would, blinking wide puppy-dog eyes at him. " _yucchan_."

something settles in yuta that makes his expression waver with uncertainty for a second. shaking off the weird feeling, he wrestles his arm from between his and doyoung's bodies and wraps it around his shoulder.

his mother doesn’t ask any questions about their relationship, surprisingly. instead, she focuses on finding out more about doyoung as a person.

as his ‘boyfriend’ and his mom talk, yuta drifts off into his thoughts. he wonders how long they’ll have to keep up this charade. will he have to introduce doyoung to his dad too? he agreed to pay doyoung twenty dollars ($19.49 with tax, to be exact) for every date and while he may have some money saved up, he doesn’t have enough to keep this relationship alive for too long. not that he wants to.

a hand patting his thigh brings yuta out of his head and he looks at doyoung who waves a hand toward his mom.

“you boys don’t have to stay here with me,” she says with a laugh. “just leave the door open if you go upstairs.”

yuta blushes at what his mom is insinuating while doyoung just laughs and peels himself away from the japanese boy.

“you don’t have to worry, mrs. nakamoto.” doyoung grabs yuta’s hand and tugs him up to stand. “c’mon, _yucchan_ , you should give me the grand tour.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i decided to try and stretch out the story a little longer. this chapter isn't anything exciting because i'm still getting a feel for the characters but i wanted to put something out xoxo

"captain, think fast."

yuta whips around at the sound of donghyuk's warning, body reflexively curling in on itself as he expects to be pelted with a soccer ball as soon as he finishes turning around. he relaxes a second later, barking out an obnoxious laugh as the freshman kicks and misses, his foot slipping over damp grass and sending him to his ass.

sicheng snorts, dribbling his own dirt stained ball atop his knees. "he's beauty, he's grace, everyone." he stops, letting the ball drop with a muted thud, and walks over to donghyuk. stretching out a hand, he helps the youngest boy up.

"i meant to do that," donghyuk bluffs, wiping bits of dirt off his butt.

"sure you did, kid," yuta says just as sicheng answers with, "ten out of ten points."

soccer practice is over for the day but they're still lingering around the field, killing time. yuta and sicheng plan to hit up the local greasy pizza shop before going back to yuta's house to study (read: play video games and get one, maybe two, assignments done) and are waiting with donghyuk for his math tutor to finish with his basketball practice.

donghyuk can't really be trusted to wait on his own and attend his tutoring session, but if the kid wants to make it on the varsity team then he can't fail geometry no matter how dumb he thinks writing proofs are, so usually someone on the team who cares about the kid stays behind so he doesn't wander off.

"shut up, sicheng," donghyuk whines, showing his age.

and sicheng, never one to prove himself to be the older of the two, sticks his tongue out, equally as childish.

"yuta, you should kick him off the team and replace him with me."

"maybe when you stop doing acrobatics like just now and start playing soccer," sicheng cuts in before yuta can answer with 'maybe when you're older."

and before donghyuk can claim he's being bullied and threaten to never show up to another practice again (which isn't really a threat but all the guys like to pretend for his sake), yuta walks over and slings an arm over the freshman's shoulder.

"if you pass your next test, i'll treat you."

"you're lying," donghyuk narrows his eyes and yuta feigns hurt, pressing his hand to his chest.

"you don't believe me? your amazing, wonderful, handsome captain?"

sicheng snorts at yuta's description of himself but doesn't say anything.

donghyuk isn't any more amused than sicheng. "my _cheap_ captain, you mean?"

"i have my charitable moments!"

"name one," donghyuk challenges, placing his hands on his hips and poking yuta in the ribs with his elbow.

before yuta can search his brain for the most extravagant thing he's ever done for someone (which is proving to be harder than he thought it'd be), the sound of a phone going off nearby rings through the air.

donghyuk sighs as he lowers his arms and ducks from underneath yuta's loose hold to grab his phone from off the bleachers less than two meters away.

knowing it's his tutor calling, sicheng and yuta return to the bleachers as well to pack up. sicheng picks up his soccer ball and drops it in his bag before saying he's going to take the one donghyuk was using back to the sports equipment storage.

yuta hums, waving him off and grabbing his own phone from the side pocket of his bookbag to check for messages. he has one from momoka about how she's offended that she had to hear about yuta's boyfriend from their mother and that she wants all of the details when she comes home from university next weekend. he has one from said 'boyfriend' that's just a selfie with a message beneath it that reads _'set this as your contact picture and then delete this message'_. in the picture, doyoung has his lips puckered out like he's pretending to kiss the camera and it looks like he took it lying down if the way his hair fans around his head is any indication. it's a cute picture. yuta doesn't start blushing at all.

 _'you're scarily thorough'_ , yuta replies and immediately gets back, ' _rule 1: kim doyoung doesn't half ass anything'_.

"why does he always call me? why is it so hard to text?" donghyuk complains as soon as he shoves his phone in his pocket and reaches for his one piece anime shoulder bag.

"because you have a really bad habit of not answering texts until three days later," yuta answers, scrolling back up to doyoung's selfie.

he wonders if he should send one back. he swipes his finger over the screen when it starts to dim and then holds it there until the options pop up. his thumb hovers over the choice to save the picture but before he can press it, donghyuk pops up over his shoulder, standing on the lowest bleacher seat.

"who's that?"

yuta flinches and presses down on the power button, darkening the screen immediately.

"a friend."

humming like he's figured out one of yuta's deepest, darkest secrets, donghyuk hops off the bleacher. "a friend who sends you kissy photos? sounds like fake news to me."

yuta has yet to explain to his friends the situation with his fake relationship and he will! just not at that moment.

"go to your math lesson, you little shit," he changes the topic, pushing at donghyuk playfully.

donghyuk takes the bait, tossing his head back and groaning like a rabid zombie.

"i don't wanna goooooooo."

at the sound of jogging, yuta turns around to see sicheng coming up to them.

"come on. we'll walk you to the library."

"oh yes, walk me to my death. please and thank you."

 

"um."

dongyoung's lips stretch into a smile at yuta's confusion. cocking his hip, he raises an eyebrow. "can i come in or not? i don't know if you've noticed, but it's kind of raining." he sends a look to the umbrella above his head currently being pelted by large drops of rain.

yuta looks over his shoulder and into his house before poking his head outside again. "what are you doing here?" he whisper-shouts.

they haven't made any plans but there dongyoung stands, out on yuta's front porch anyway. not even yuta's friends come over unannounced; that's just weird. but it's not like he can turn the boy away so yuta steps out of the way and lets dongyoung in.

dongyoung smiles gratefully. he shakes the water off his umbrella outside until it's less likely to leave a huge puddle in the door way. he props it against the wall per yuta's instruction and steps aside so the older boy can shut the door.

"yuta?" his mother calls from upstairs. "who is at the door?"

yuta looks at the boy beside him who is slipping off his shoes before walking to the foot of the stairs. his mom stands at the top, concerned with who could possibly be at their door in this heavy rain.

"it's just doyoung."

doyoung shuffles over to him then. he waves up at yuta's mom with a sheepish grin. "sorry for coming over unannounced mrs. nakamoto. and empty handed at that." he dips into a clean forty five degree bow.

"nonsense," yuta's mom waves off his apology. "are you wet? do you need a towel?"

"no, i'm f--"

"yuta, get him a towel."

yuta snorts but still starts up the stairs. "mom, he's fine."

his mom shoves him as soon as he's on her level. "i don't want him getting sick. make him some tea when you go back down, too." she shoots doyoung a wide grin. "you're welcome anytime, doyoung."

"i wish you were that nice to me." yuta complains facetiously as he rips open the closet where they keep the linens. his mom is usually friendly, the type to always be in your business even if she pretends she isn't interested, but she treats doyoung a lot better than yuta's friends. (probably because the soccer boys are, admittedly, an obnoxious bunch.)

"i don't have to be nice to you. i carried you for nine months and--"

yuta snatches a fluffy blue towel off the third shelf and shuts the door. "and this conversation is done. i'll take care of him mom, don't worry."

when yuta passes by her again, she ruffles his hair. glancing at doyoung, she stage whispers, "if he doesn't make you tea, come tell me. i'll beat him up for you."

"ignore her." yuta slips his fingers into the collar of doyoung's loose black tee and drags him off into the living room, away from his mother's eyes.

doyoung giggles as he's brought to the couch. "i'm starting to see why you felt desperate enough to come to me if she's like that." he sits down at one side.

"ha, yeah." yuta lifts the towel in his hands. "you don't need this, right?" when doyoung shakes his head, he tosses it on the back of the couch and sits down at the other end. he folds his legs under himself, both for comfort and to hide his cartoon hyuna socks before the other boy notices.

"so...like i asked earlier: what are you doing here?" he asks.

doyoung shrugs, crosses his legs at the knee, and then immediately uncrosses them. "i thought it'd be better if we were seen together more."

yuta raises an eyebrow. "and you thought the best day to do that would be today when it's pouring outside? without saying anything to me at all?"

exhaling heavily, doyoung looks up with a frown that surely matches the one on yuta's own face. "are you worried about me or annoyed at me?"

yuta clicks his tongue. "definitely the second."

"okay, so the first."

yuta stares at the younger boy on the other side of the three seater until doyoung cracks a smile, obviously trying to get yuta to loosen up. the japanese boy sighs. mr. we-have-to-be-exact-about-this aka kim doyoung wouldn't just come over without a better reason but yuta knows a lost fight when he sees one. "just give me a warning next time."

doyoung's smile takes on an apologetic air. "i will. sorry."

it takes a moment for the tension in the atmosphere to dissipate into awkwardness.

"so... what should we do?" yuta asks, looking at doyoung briefly before he directs his attention to the commercials playing on tv. he had been watching a sitcom before the other boy showed up.

the sound of someone coming down the stairs distracts doyoung and yuta looks over as well to see his father coming down. he looks like he just woke up, which is more than likely considering the gloom outside, scratching absentmindedly at his collarbones.

" _your mom wants to know if you're cool with curry for dinner_ ," his dad says in japanese, not pausing as he continues on to the kitchen.

" _am i ever not cool with curry for dinner?_ " yuta answers just before his dad disappears out of sight.

" _is your boyfriend going to stay?_ "

yuta turns to doyoung who is staring off into space. when he reaches out to touch his shoulder, the younger boy snaps back into reality and flinches away with a sharp inhale.

"what?" doyoung twists so that he faces yuta and crosses his arms.

raising an eyebrow, yuta sends a glance toward the kitchen. "do you want to stay for dinner?"

doyoung chews on the inside of his lip, thinking about it. "would it be better if i stayed? i mean, i don't think my parents will care but are you in the mood to play the boyfriend game today?" he whispers under the sound of yuta's dad moving around the kitchen.

yuta didn't plan on having to 'play the game' today but he doesn't think it's so bad. when he and doyoung get into character, it's kind of easy to pretend to be overly touchy and involved. so he shrugs.

"do you like curry?"

"yeah, i love indian food."

yuta almost laughs. "no, i meant japanese curry. with less spice and more rice." and he almost laughs again at his rhyme.

doyoung blinks before a look of vague disgust washes over his face. "i don't know if you meant it to come out like that but this relationship isn't going to last if you did."

"oh, so you mean you want me to do it more?"

doyoung lowers his voice again and narrows his eyes at yuta. "don't try me, nakamoto. i'll make you pay for this unofficial date. and speaking of dates, you should take me on a real one."

"w-what? why?"

doyoung gives him a look that makes yuta feel incredibly stupid. "i'm sure your mom is going to wonder about the time you spend with me. and she seems like the type to always want to see pictures and stuff."

there's no reason why yuta starts laughing in awkward chuckles (except, there is and it's because he feels like an idiot for thinking 'real' meant something else entirely). if doyoung's features pinched together anymore, his face would completely disappear in the center. the question of why yuta is laughing is written in bold, flashing letters on his face but instead of giving any kind of insight, yuta gets up and escapes.

"excuse me."

his dad looks away from the toast he's slathering strawberry jam over and up at him when he walks into the kitchen. he gives a hearty laugh. "what's got you so red?"

waving his hand frantically as a sign to not continue this train of conversation, yuta walks over to the line of cabinets and from one takes down a green bulbasaur cup he bought at the pokemon center during a past vacation to tokyo. "doyoung said he'll stay for dinner." he mumbles as he opens the fridge and pulls out the orange juice.

maybe he isn’t ready to play the ‘boyfriend’ game today after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i haven't forgotten about this! since i'm writing this pretty much off the top of my head, if i'm not feeling inspired, it's hard to write. but i'll try to be a little quicker with future updates <3

"keep your door open! you might not be able to make babies but that doesn't mean i want you trying up there."

"okay, thanks for your valuable input that no one asked for mom, i'll keep it in mind, bye," yuta rambles in a long sentence as he pushes doyoung up the stairs, needing to get away from his mother before she can start talking about protection and lubrication and other stuff yuta doesn't want to hear from her.

his dad is laughing from where he's reclining on the couch, content to watch his son suffer at the hands of his wife, and yuta reminds himself to call a family meeting to discuss this injustice against him.

doyoung is laughing too, and yuta slaps him hard on the back. the pained noise he makes is only a little satisfying.

"your mom is honestly great," doyoung says he walks into yuta's room.

closing the door behind him anyway, yuta exhales heavily. "yeah, she's a riot." he looks at doyoung idling in the center of his room, staring at the pictures lining yuta's nightstand. "you don't have to stand."

"hm? ah, yeah," doyoung mumbles as he walks closer to look at the frames holding images of yuta's childhood. "you were a cute little brat."

raising an eyebrow, yuta falls onto his bed, sweeping his hand around in his messy blankets and sheets to find the remote to his small 20-inch television. "i'm not cute now?" he finds an empty potato chip bag buried in there and quickly drops it to the floor, kicking it under his bed.

he glances up just as doyoung turns to face him. the younger boy scans over his face, surprisingly taking yuta seriously.

"eh, you're nothing to write home about."

or not.

"wow, you're the best boyfriend anyone could ask for. how did i ever snag you?" yuta winces when he swipes his hand under his pillow and hits his thumb on something hard. he pulls out the remote and presses the on button, his tv flickering to life on a sports channel.

"you should make your bed," doyoung comments even as he takes a seat on the edge himself.

"i'm just gonna get back in it," yuta gives the same excuse to him as he does his mom. "there's no point."

"you could find your remote faster and not old wrappers?"

okay so maybe there's a point.

but still yuta shrugs. he flips through channels until he lands on season four spongebob reruns. the best season.

they don't watch much of it though, only needing it as background noise as they discuss the plan for their 'date'.

doyoung thinks they should do something standard but inexpensive, like a movie date or a trip to the mall.

"let's go to an arcade," yuta suggests, lying down on his side.

doyoung looks like he's tossing the idea around his head, probably calculating believability ratios and staging 'look at how into each other we are' pictures or something above and beyond like that. as he's thinking, his phone rings.

"that could work," he agrees somewhat as he glances down at the screen of his phone. a frown quickly sours his face and yuta peeks over as well, just barely able to make out **DAD** at the top of the screen.

doyoung answers the phone, bringing it to his ears with a slowness that makes it obvious that he doesn't want to talk.

"hello?"

yuta rolls off his bed and stands. he mumbles that he's going to the bathroom as he leaves the room, feeling a weird sort of discomfort at the shift in doyoung's mood and wanting to give him privacy.

he looks at himself in the mirror above the sink and fixes his bangs, wondering if he should dye his inky hair to a warm brown.

"i'm back, ugly."

in his reflection, he sees his younger sister poke her head through the doorway. he rolls his eyes with a smile. "i know you are but what am i?"

she snorts. "i heard the boyfriend is here. where is he?"

"in my room. he's on the phone, thou..."

he trails off when she looks to her left and her eyes light up with interest.

"hi!"

"hello," sounds doyoung's voice from out of view.

flicking off the light, yuta steps out of the bathroom. doyoung looks at him, that same frown yuta left him with still on his face. with his sister there, introducing herself and asking why he's dating someone so gross like her brother, yuta can see doyoung attempt a smile.

"he's sweet. and i don't know how but, every time he's around, he kind of makes my day," doyoung answers unexpectedly.

yuta blinks, surprised.

haru turns to him and laughs. "ew, look at how red you're getting."

yuta pushes her gently, scowling. "good _bye_ , haru."

"toodles, loser. bye, doyoung. you'll come to your senses some day."

doyoung's smile looks a little more genuine as she walks down the hall to her room across from their parents.

"sorry my entire family is a mess. except for me. and i guess my older sister is alright," yuta says.

"they're nice." doyoung shakes his head. he mumbles something under his breath, turning his head away, that is too quiet for yuta to hear. "but, um, i actually have to go."

"oh, okay," yuta says slowly, ignoring the random flop in his stomach. "are your parents coming to get you? i can ask my dad to take you home."

doyoung shakes his head, waving his hand around. "no, it's okay. it's not raining that hard anymore and-"

"doyoung, my mom is not letting you out of this house if you're not immediately getting in a car this late at night."

biting into his lip, doyoung squeezes his eyes shut, pondering something for a moment before he lets out a sigh. "okay... could you ask your dad?"

although curious about the other boy's reluctance, yuta leads them downstairs without questioning anything. they might be friendly with each other but they're definitely not close enough for personal questions.

his parents are watching law and order when they make it down the stairs. (well, his mom is watching it. his dad looks like he's playing rhythm games on his phone and failing.)

noticing them there, his mom perks up. "everything okay?”

yuta nods. "yeah. doyoung has to go home. i was wondering if dad could take him."

"why not me?" his mother pouts.

"because you'll harass him."

her pout only deepens and his father laughs heartily, patting her on the shoulder as he stands up.

"are you all ready to go, doyoung?" his father directs to the younger of the two boys who nods.

"yes, sir."

shaking his head, yuta's dad smiles at him. "i told you, you don't have to call me 'sir'." he leads them to the door, grabbing his keys off the hook. "are you coming, yuta?"

yuta declines. he pretends he doesn't notice, but he can see relief wash over doyoung's face.

following them to the door, yuta stands in the entranceway.

doyoung picks up his umbrella, still a little wet, and faces him with a small smile. "sorry for coming over so suddenly. and thanks for letting me stay for dinner."

"nonsense!" yells yuta's mom, having also tagged along. "like i said, you're always welcome."

doyoung nods at her gratefully before glancing at yuta. he dips his head and, as he stares at a spot around yuta's stomach, his ears tint a soft pink. "i'll see you at school?"

"yeah, of co--"

heart stopping dead in his chest, yuta freezes like a popsicle when doyoung dips down and presses a feather light kiss to his cheek. he hears his mother coo from behind him and his dad has this dumb, adoring parent smile on his face.

doyoung shuffles further away from the door, rain wetting him without his umbrella. "we can go. bye, mrs. nakamoto. bye, yuta."

yuta doesn't say anything until his mom slaps him hard on the back. "b-bye."

"why didn't you kiss him back?!" his mom asks after doyoung and his dad have already driven off and the front door is closed once again.

yuta fans his warm cheeks. "i was surprised!" they didn't talk about that at all!

his mother doesn't stop there, commenting, "ah, he was so embarrassed. such a cutie."

when yuta thinks about it later, laying in bed and sending sicheng old memes, he has to admit she was right.

doyoung was pretty cute.

 

**to: yuta nakamoto (socio class)**

sorry bout last night

it just came to me suddenly

or else i would've told you

 

**to: doyoungie**

oh uh no s'ok

my mom loved it

so

yeh

 

**to: yuta nakamoto (socio class)**

but...

i didn't make you uncomfortable?

 

**drafts**

~~i was surprised but~~

~~idk it was fine~~

 

 **to:** **doyoungie**

i was surprised

but it doesn't matter

everything for the act right

 

**to: yuta nakamoto (socio class)**

oh ok

that's good then

 

"dude, can i borrow fifty cents? unless you wanna buy me chips out of the goodness of your heart?"

yuta tosses a carton of chocolate milk up and down in the air as he stands in the long lunch line. he glances over at donghyuck and snorts. "it'd be the same thing either way because you wouldn't pay me that fifty cents back."

"are you complaining, oh gracious, charitable captain?"

"i'm not saying i've been counting...but you owe me fifteen dollars in 'charitable' chip donations and another ten in ice cream donations." yuta doesn't glance back as they shift forward a bit in line. "but like i said. who's counting?"

even though he hasn't hit his growth spurt yet, donghyuck still tries to rest his arm on yuta's shoulder. "so are you going to get me the chips or not?"

"yeah, whatever."

yuta doesn't really mind tossing the tiny bag onto his tray of limp french fries and mystery meat chicken nuggets, getting a weird satisfaction out of the fact that the bag is filled with more air than chips. and he'll get his money back eventually, even if he has to hang donghyuk by his feet and shake spare change out of his pockets.

after paying for their less than edible school-provided lunches, yuta tosses donghyuck his chips as they walk over to where the ketchup and mustard dispensers are.

"hey!" donghyuck yells indignantly as he fumbles to catch the bag.

the japanese boy would feel a little sorry about it if his eyes didn't land on doyoung walking over from the other direction.

they both stare at each other and the kiss from two days ago jumps to the forefront of yuta's mind. that seems to be the case for doyoung too, despite their messages the morning before, because he blushes.

doyoung stops at the counter, breaking eye contact with yuta to grab a spoon.

yuta holds his tray under the ketchup dispenser. he pushes down on the release lever and watches ketchup squirt into a glob next to his nuggets.

"hey," he greets, still getting more ketchup, still not looking up at the younger boy.

"hi," says doyoung back. a silence settles between them in the loud cafeteria for ten seconds and then doyoung is speaking again. "do you have soccer practice today?"

yuta lifts his head to see doyoung watching him. "yeah. why?"

shrugging, his pretend boyfriend twirls the spoon with his fingers. "i was hoping we could maybe have like ten minutes to talk about," doyoung glances away from yuta for a moment before meeting his eyes again, "...you know. i was going to text you tonight but thought it'd be easier to plan together in person."

yuta nods. "i have some time before practice starts. wanna meet in the library?"

"actually, i have forensics today so..."

so room 327. "okay."

doyoung smiles. "okay."

yuta watches him return to his table, noticing chittaphon, some bulky skyscraper of a boy, and two girls sitting with him.

"oh my god."

flinching, yuta glances over to see donghyuck staring at him with wide eyes. "you're still here?" he was so quiet that yuta thought he went back to their table where taeil, another member of the soccer team, is holding seats.

donghyuck whips his head between yuta and doyoung. "oh my god," he repeats. "i've never seen you so shy. that was him, wasn't it? your 'friend' who sends you kissy pictures?"

groaning, yuta squeezes his eyes shut. of course donghyuck would remember that.

"dude, i'm not gonna judge you for being gay."

" _you're_ gay, donghyuck."

"yeah, exactly."

turning the freshman around with one hand, yuta pushes him toward their table.

"why has he never come to one of our matches? what's his name? does sicheng know? is sicheng a homophobe and that's why he doesn't know? are you the same age? is he korean? he looks korean.”

yuta sighs. this is precisely why he was procrastinating on telling his friends. "hyuck, if you stop asking questions and never speak of this again unless i tell you to, i'll help you get off the bench next game."

"were you talking to someone just now? wow, i totally blacked out. i don't remember a thing. who am i? what year is it?"

 

yuta manhandles his bag out of his locker, the bulk of it a little too big for the tiny storage space. he drops it to the floor and nudges the red metal door shut with his knee. sicheng, leaning up against the neighboring locker with his own bag slung heavy over his shoulder, glances up from his phone.

"you don't have to wait up. i gotta talk to someone about a...a project?" yuta tells him, reaching down to pick up his own bag.

sicheng raises an eyebrow. "you don't sound too sure about that."

"you know i never pay attention in class," is yuta's attempt to get sicheng to let it go.

they both know it was a terrible lie, and sicheng stares at him, eyes lidded with boredom, waiting for yuta to give a better one.

sighing, yuta averts his gaze to the few students who haven’t left the building or gone to their respective club rooms. "i'll explain later, okay? i promise."

the very definition of chill, sicheng shrugs. "do what you want." he adjusts his bag, threading his left arm through the strap so it sits evenly on his back. "don't be too late. you know i hate people."

sicheng leaves for the pitch without another word. sometimes yuta loves his best friend.

yuta turns and walks in the opposite direction to the language hall. doyoung is loitering outside classroom 327 and talking to the same broad boy that was sitting at his table at lunch when he gets there.

it's the other boy who notices yuta first. he only glances at yuta for a split second, but it's enough for doyoung to look over as well, his eyes rounding.

to his friend, doyoung says, "sorry, johnny. yuta," he throws his head in the japanese boy's direction. "and i have to talk about an assignment. if i'm not done soon, you can tell taeyong to start without me."

johnny nods and waves a hello at yuta before leaving the two of them in the hallway.

"so, about our 'date'," doyoung starts, stepping closer to yuta and lowering his voice.

they go through the details quickly but thoroughly. the date will be next wednesday, straight after school, because yuta doesn't have soccer practice and it'll be easier to take the bus. they'll stay for two hours, maybe a little longer if they're actually enjoying themselves and not expected to be home. at least two selfies need to be taken together. bonus points for a picture of doyoung that looks like he didn't know it was being taken. even more bonus points for a video or if they substitute one of the couple selfies for a strip of photo booth pictures.

doyoung types everything in to the notes app of his phone. yuta is honestly amazed at his dedication to detail. it's almost too much.

"have you told your friends about this?" the korean boy asks, flicking his eyes up as his fingers continue to type.

shaking his head, yuta pulls out his own phone to check the time, not wanting to be too late to practice. he still needs to change into his uniform too. "the little one i was with at lunch thinks we're together for real, though. or at least mutually crushing on each other."

doyoung's fingers pause at that before he continues, nodding.

"that might be good. just in case your mom talks about me when they're around. i should probably meet them too."

it makes perfect sense, but imagining introducing doyoung to his friends makes yuta's stomach swoop in a way he can't explain. he’s kept secrets from them before but it's weird to think that one day he's going to have to pull them aside and say, _you remember doyoung kim? yeah...we were never dating. i paid him twenty dollars a 'date' to pretend because my mom picked up matchmaking as a hobby and was driving me insane with her good intentions_.

but thinking of his friends reminds him of donghyuck's one-sided game of twenty questions from lunch.

"why don't you come to one of our games? you could meet the guys afterward." yuta shifts his weight from one leg to the other and fights to not play with his fingers when doyoung stops typing again. "my parents don't always stay but my sister usually does."

doyoung purses his lips. "yeah, okay. one of my friends is tutoring some kid on the junior varsity team. i can go with him sometime."

"really?" yuta runs through all of the jv members in his mind. "is it in math? twice a week or something like that?"

doyoung nods slowly, obviously wondering how yuta knows.

even as captain of the varsity team, yuta pays a lot of attention to all of the players. "your friend tutors donghyuck, the one who thinks we're real."

raising his eyebrows, doyoung _ahhh_ s. "guess i'll have to have a talk with mark," he mumbles to himself, quickly typing something on his phone before darkening the screen and slipping it into his pocket. "so."

"so," repeats yuta.

"i should get back to my meeting. and it's not good for the captain to be too late, right? i'll see you next wednesday?"

voice whiny with complaint, yuta asks, "only wednesday?" his words catch up with him as soon as they’re out in the air and he stiffens, biting down on his lip. _why did you say that?_

as if it matters whether or not he sees doyoung between now and then.

doyoung blinks, eyes widening in surprise.

"i mean...i'm sure we'll pass each other in the hallway. unless you wanted to meet up again before the arcade."

"no, it's okay. ignore me," yuta says quickly, waving his hand to shoo the conversation away. "next wednesday. got it. have fun with your meeting."

gripping the strap of his bookbag tight, yuta whirls around and walks (read: speed walks) away from the language hall and doyoung, ears burning.


End file.
